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Andy’s Blues Blog

MAN UNITED SEE RED

11-01-2010

Andy Munro brings us up to date on happenings at St Andrews with an account of the 1-1 draw on Saturday.

It was almost the perfect match with Blues taking on champions Manchester United in front of a sell-out crowd. Early on it was more of a cross between the Fulham and Chelsea games as Blues couldn’t get hold of possession – without being too critical it showed up a lack of pace and power in the Blues midfield although in fairness the Reds packed their midfield to ensure control.

Luckily the Blues back four were predictably magnificent and kept us in the game by continually throwing themselves into the firing line. Behind them Joe Hart was equally impressive – the Blues crowd were soon singing “England’s England’s No 1” although I was trying to start up a chant of “England’s, England’s No 2’ on the basis that Man City might be more likely to sell.

In fact on the subject of singing, Blues fans were in fine voice ranging from a rousing rendition of “Keep Right On” to “You Only Live Around The Corner.” Yet as often happens in football with literally our first attack, Blues took the lead following a goalmouth scramble with Cameron J the quickest to react.

To be honest it hadn’t really looked on the cards in the first half but did I feel any sympathy…The goal certainly had a dramatic effect on the Blues team in the second half unless McLeish also borrowed Fergie’s hairdryer at half-time.

Blues came out of the blocks a different team and showed up a real shakiness in the Man United defence although in fairness this unfortunately didn’t extend to their keeper. He pulled out several smart saves from Chucho (twice) and a brilliant stop from Roger Johnson.

One of Chucho’s chances came from an outrageous turn of which Ronaldo would have been proud while Cameron was a bit wasteful when in a good position.

To add to United’s woes, Fletcher decided to get sent off and it served him right although the Three Wise Monkeys on Match of the Day felt it was harsh. Not to me…Fletcher had been continually moaning at the officials and his second foul was a sly trip when Cameron was in full flight – the fact that it wasn’t a legbreaker wasn’t the point.

By the end, Fergie’s face was as red as his team’s shorts even though he was given the benefit of a ridiculous six minutes extra time. When the announcement was made, the Tilton Roaders were spot on when they started to sing “Fergie Time.”

However it didn’t stop us sharing the points and on chances rather than possession we probably deserved all three.